NulNetLightning node on a stable VPS IP
LND or Core Lightning on an IP that never rotates: routing uptime is channel uptime. Hosting settles on-chain in BTC or USDT, not over Lightning.
Le corps de l'article est en anglais. L'interface, le catalogue et la caisse sont traduits.
What people actually run
Lightning Labs documentation and Core Lightning are the two mainstream daemons, each with a bitcoind (or neutrino/equivalent) behind it, and each needing an address that does not rotate — channel peers memorize your endpoint, and every change costs routing while the graph relearns it. One billing rule keeps new operators out of trouble: the hosting invoice settles on-chain, so never send Lightning to the BTC invoice address.
VPS from $3* (fund $50+), storage 1–5 TB NVMe from $24/mo annual-eff, dedicated with IPMI from $30.80/mo. Crypto invoice, no KYC.
Launch nowPlaybook
- Warden to start. Dedicated when channel state should not share a noisy neighbour.
- Follow Lightning Labs documentation or Core Lightning. Keep the backend on NVMe.
- Hosting bill: on-chain BTC or USDT.
Sizing and uptime economics
A routing node is always-on, so the tier math is about state, not spikes: Warden (6 vCPU / 16 GB / 240 GB NVMe, $19.00 list, $15.20 annual-eff) handles a healthy node; when channel state and wallet keys justify isolation, dedicated metal from $30.80/mo annual-eff removes the neighbour variable entirely. Snapshots of the node directory go to the NVMe storage ladder so a dead disk becomes a restore, not a force-close of every channel. ECC RAM on every SKU guards the DB; sixteen coins settle the invoice, and no KYC step exists anywhere in the flow.
Limits
A Lightning node is an allowed workload; attacking peers, channel jamming tooling or scanning ranges from the box are not. The host rents the VM and the stable IP — node operation, backups and key custody stay entirely yours.
Can I pay the hosting bill over Lightning?
Not yet — invoices settle on-chain in BTC, or in USDT when the bill should stay dollar-stable. Keep sats for channels, not for the host.
Can bitcoind run nested on the same VPS?
Yes, on every tier — nested virtualization is enabled if you isolate the backend in a VM, though most operators run both daemons directly on the host.
Does the IP really stay stable?
Yes. Each VPS carries its IPv4 and /64 for its lifetime, and unmetered ports mean gossip traffic never meets a quota.
What happens after a disk failure?
What you made of it: with channel state backed up off-box, the restore path is reinstall, restore, rescan — the reason the snapshot habit matters more on Lightning than on most workloads.
Ready to launch?
Build the box — VPS, storage or bare metal — create the password, pay the invoice that follows.